So Kristine Howard only won her State Rep re-election because her opponent was a cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs candidate who is even less qualified as a politician as she is, and because face it 2022 was the lesser of two evils election, wasn’t it? The woman who ran against her, was literally such a bad candidate that even Republicans voted for Kristine Howard.
Howard now wants to run for JUDGE. I mean, it would be a nice salary bump wouldn’t it? According to published media reports judges serve 10 years and the salary is supposedly$197, 119, so that is like more than double what she makes now, right?
There are a lot of Democrats who want to be judge this year, especially off of County Row in Chester County, correct? And then there are some running who are Magisterial District Justices and they haven’t even finished their terms yet, correct? Sorry, not sorry, I kind of have a problem with that. If you haven’t completed the initial task you were originally elected to, why should we consider you for judge?
Nice salary – that photo is the one from her first campaign.
And I think Kristine Howard is one of the worst offenders because I’m still trying to figure out what it is exactly she has actually done for us since she was first elected aren’t you? She doesn’t support the people whose lives have been damaged and ruined by the pipelines, does she? She’s not someone you see around unless she’s running. Like she showed up this week at the rededication of the Malvern Historical Commission and opened her mouth for a few seconds. Good thing a public photo op was posted. It’s like proof of life that this State Rep exists.
With this state rep photos are always the subject of some amusement where she’s concerned because when she ran for her first race, the photo was like 15 years old. Literally people didn’t know who she was at first because she was not out much and she didn’t have current campaign photos. I totally get liking certain photos of yourself over others but people literally didn’t recognize her when they actually met her for the first time.
So now Kristine Howard wants to run for judge, so she actually showed her face at something local.
She seems to hide from her constituency, and her staff is not particularly helpful, because there are so many people who have said so. I’ve never contacted her office personally, because when she abandoned her constituents harmed by pipelines, I was kind of done. I mean that was a pretty basic need to just be heard on the part of her constituents affected by pipelines before you get to all the other issues, and she couldn’t even do that.
And is she qualified to be a judge? It doesn’t appear as if she has ever had time in a courtroom does it? So, maybe if she was running for Magisterial District Justice? It would be different, but she’s running for Superior Court, and if you don’t have the chops, you don’t have the chops. And I don’t think she has the chops. I think she just wants this because it’s more money and job security for a decade.
It’s like that quote out of the movie Working Girl in 1988 when Joan Cusack’s character Cyn says:
“ Sometimes I sing and dance around the house in my underwear. Doesn’t make me Madonna. Never will.”
~ Cyn, Working Girl 1988
I wasn’t even going to write about this until I saw that the good state rep was doing her proverbial kissing babies public appearance things. But it needs to be discussed. She has not done an adequate job as our elected state representative and now she wants to be a judge? We can’t see that she has any actual courtroom experience, but now she wants to be a judge? So is being a judge job security, and then a platform for running for something else?
Mar 21, 2023 1:31 pm EDT | Updated Mar 22, 2023 9:23 pm EDT
MALVERN, PA – State Rep. Kristine Howard announced Tuesday her candidacy for a judgeship on the Chester County bench.
Howard is serving her third term representing District-167, which consists of Malvern borough and Charlestown, East Whiteland, West Pikeland, West Whiteland, West Vincent and East Caln townships.
There are five vacancies on the 12-judge bench.
So far, 12 candidates have announced they are running in the May primary for a 10-year term serving the residents of Chester County. Judges earn an annual salary of $197,119.
Howard, a lawyer, is serving her third, two-year term as a Democratic legislator after being reelected in November.
” My work as a legislator gives voters a clear picture of the perspective I will bring to the bench,” Howard said in announcing her candidacy. “I have an extensive voting record and have written and published my opinions on many topics.”
Howard of East Whiteland Township said her decision to run for the judge was not easy, noting she loves her job as a lawmaker, a job which provides the public with her position on issues impacting the resident of Pennsylvania…..According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, Howard and Judge Nicole Forzato are running on the Democratic ticket. The other 10 candidates cross-filed on both Republican and Democratic tickets.
They are Dave Black, Andy Rongaus, District Attorney Deb Ryan, P.J. Redmond, Don Kohler, Sheriff Fredda D. Maddox, Thomas McCabe, Judge Lou Mincarelli, Sarah Black, and District Judge Paige Simmons.
Her work as a legislator. Good to know she’s working right? Because it has been hard to tell and you rarely hear her actual voice. She’s pretty much invisible to her constituency as an elected official unless it’s a photo op for something.
Also look at who submitted that photo in the opening screenshot I captured from the Patch article which is really not an article but a press release? Isn’t that the guy who is supposedly both her political handler and fancy man? And you’ve seen him show up on campaign finance reports getting paid? If she was a judge, who would be the voice you heard adjudicating from the bench, him or her? What would he get out of her being judge?
Kristine Howard is also someone who always appears completely ill at ease speaking in public, and being a judge is a pretty public thing day in and day out, so how would she cope?
Then there is her LinkedIn. Again, you don’t see actual courtroom experience. You see that she has a law degree, but when someone is running for judge at this level, having a law degree isn’t enough, you need actual experience.
Running for judge of Common Please Court, is a big deal. And the Chester County Democrats did NOT endorse her either. Of course, that begs a different conversation of is the bloom off of the rose with her in Chester County?
Chester County Democrats Choose State and County-wide Candidates for Party Endorsement
West Chester, PA. (February 16, 2023) – The Chester County Democratic Committee (CCDC) has selected candidates for endorsement for the 2023 Primary Election at its annual Endorsement Convention, held virtually on Wednesday evening.
Chairwoman Charlotte Valyo stressed the importance of the endorsement process, especially given cross-filing Republicans expected on the May 16 Democratic Primary Election ballot for non-political races. She also noted the recent election successes of Democratic candidates across the county, leading to several very competitive primary races.
Valyo stated “The Chester County Democratic Committee has successfully endorsed a full slate of candidates to run for Judicial and County seats in the 2023 election. The Democratic slate is representative of Chester County, the candidates are highly qualified, and will continue the Democrats’ record of governing responsibly for all Chester County residents.”
For state-wide races, the Committee endorsed Dan McCaffery for State Supreme Court; Jill Beck, Esq., and Judge Timika Lane for Superior Court; and Judge Matt Wolf for Commonwealth Court.
The Committee was proud to unanimously endorse incumbent Chester County Commissioners Josh Maxwell and Marian Moskowitz, along with incumbent Prothonotary Debbie Bookman. Current Register of Wills Michele Vaughn was also endorsed, although not unanimously. Earning first-time endorsements for open seats were District Attorney candidate Chris de Barrena-Sarobe, Esq., Recorder of Deeds candidate Diane O’Dwyer, and Kevin Dykes for Sheriff.
With a very unusual five openings on the Chester County Court of Common Pleas and 13 declared judicial candidates, that position proved to be extremely competitive, requiring several rounds of balloting to endorse Sarah Black, Esq., Judge Nicole Forzato, Sheriff Fredda Maddox, Esq., Thomas “Tip” McCabe, Esq., and DA Deborah Ryan, Esq.
This year’s Democratic Primary Election is May 16, 2023.
That is a fascinating press release. It also mentions the Register of Wills race. The incumbent was not universally endorsed by her party. Does that mean perhaps she should spend a little more time in the office? And Recorder of Deeds? That is an office that has seemed to have had messes and messy revolving door hasn’t it? And the woman whom they endorsed has been there through a lot of it and it’s still a mess, so why should we vote for her?
But that’s a conversation for another day. Let’s get back to Kristine Howard. if she decided for some strange reason that she had wanted to run for Magisterial District Justice , I would not have had a problem with that and why do you ask? Because that is the one judicial category where you do not have to have a law degree or be a lawyer. And technically, you don’t have to have quart room experience either. But State Rep Kristine Howard wants to run for Court of Common Pleas. She just doesn’t have the chops for this job.
I know we all have to get through the primary before we get to the general election. I almost wished that judges were a political as far as parties went, and they just ran as qualified or not qualified individuals. I personally do not want someone who is purely a politician to be a judge, and that doesn’t matter what political party they are. When somebody runs for judge, they have to have some kind of practical court experience that would qualify them for the Court of Common Pleas.
So Chester County Democrats you have a task ahead of you. You need to separate the wheat from the chaff. Most simply put, State Rep. Kristine Howard when it comes to a judicial race is sadly the chaff. I mean, if she’s tired of going to Harrisburg, she could always run for County Commissioner like State Rep Tim Briggs had been considering in Montgomery County until he changed his mind, right?
It’s not up to me to decide if Kristine Howard ends up on the fall 2023 election ballot. But I can tell you she won’t be my choice. She shouldn’t be yours as well. She just doesn’t have it to be a judge.
We need judges on the bench for the right reasons. Being a judge should not be a political steppingstone, or a place to hang out for a decade with a higher salary. I believe people who run for judge should have a true calling for it.
That’s it that’s all I’ve got to say the rest is up to the voters in May.
The world according to West Whiteland Stupidvisor Theresa HoganSantalucia , but is her truth anyone else’s?
Saint Theresa of West Whiteland. What can we say about her that is not true? She’s unpleasant, a bad bullying politician, petty, a wannabe tyrant and more, correct? She is incredibly angry and insecure, takes no ownership of her behavior, does she? She is a professional victim after she melts down every single time, isn’t she?
And oh yes, politician darling, I can indeed express my opinions on you.And ask questions.
We all remember her behavior at the reorg meeting in West Whiteland last January, yes? And that the truth with her is always stranger than fiction, correct? So before we get to the present and her relatively new Facebook page of revisionist history essentially insinuating she is the sole supervisor in West Whiteland, Bossette Tweed needs a dose of reality, truth, and recent history as it actually happened, not as she wishes it to be.
So every meeting or not even in meetings there are Theresaisms. Her clumsy, almost uncomfortable way of speaking. Her flipping out at residents and targeting whomever she feels is in her way, right?
Oh and the company she keeps. State Rep. Kristine Howard’s boys in particular are her BFFs and cheerleaders, correct? And Kristine Howard is a State Rep who only got reelected because her opposition was truly a nut bag, and now she wants to be a judge and does she even have courtroom experience? (But I digress.) Here lookee Lou at a recent T Bird post (which is PUBLIC note the globe):
In 2023 I am glad T Bird is suggesting reach across the “isle”, but I hope the islanders can swim, right? No you can’t make this stuff up, or her new page announcing her as West Whiteland Supervisor, like she’s the only freaking one, and how funny is that? Those sitting in Harrisburg and with aspirations in Harrisburg and who like to play at the power behind the throne, might wish to distance themselves, yes?
Now Madam doesn’t list her name or her bio. When she adds her bio I am sure Moses won’t have anything on her, right? And before I get to the next bit let’s seriously talk for a minute about what she has done while in office? Besides wreak havoc?
I’ll wait.
Does anything come to mind?
Yep, I can’t think of anything either and I know for a fact that residents prefer to go to Raj Kumbhardare or Brian Dunn. You see they are nice, they care, they listen. They are secure in who they are and are beloved by their friends and families. Guess she’s jealous, right? Sad, so sad. Pathetic, even.
So a brief segue to the recent 2023 reorganization meeting. I knew it seemed too civilized when compared to 2022. Nasty is as nasty does and please don’t jump ahead, I will get there.
To the public it looked like all were getting along up on the dais to begin 2023, right? Well let’s pull it apart. Theresa would not be elected chairwoman of the supervisors now, the jig is so very up, right? She undoubtedly in my opinion pushed for Brian Dunn to first of all punish Raj for essentially not being her boy toy. Sorry not sorry Theresa, grown men don’t gravitate towards your brand of leadership as it were. Besides supervisors generally rotate this position around within their board, and face it Raj was chairman through quite the difficult time, I am sure he doesn’t mind a break, does he? But why else Brian as chairman (and she was the one who nominated him)? Easy, she wants to set Brian up to fail in my humble opinion. She wants to say as she runs for reelection that only she can do the job. Blah blah blah.
So now I know you want to see what she is posting on her shiny new page that appears to only have one follower. She started the page November 18, 2022.
OK, OK you have been such good readers, so here are her first two and thus far only posts. And if they appear fuzzy on your screen, click on each screen shot individually or simply read the verbatim copied text:
Let’s talk December 2021. The week between Christmas 2021 and New Years 2022 I was summoned to a diner in Exton by the supervisor elect.
I found out that night that the supervisor elect and the chair of the supervisors had been colluding to fire the solicitor and replace him with a solicitor that had made campaign donations to both their campaigns. The solicitor they were planning to install had been turned down by the sitting supervisors in a 2-1 vote in January 2021 due to his heavy involvement in politics and heavy load of other townships. The solicitor that was in place had vowed to stay out of local politics to include donations to campaigns.
The discussion was started with, “ you are already outvoted,”. But out voted by who? The sitting Board of Supervisors didn’t have a vote or even a discussion.
Seems the chairperson and supervisor elect ( not sworn in) decided to fire the sitting Township Manager for reasons never explained.
The morning after the diner meeting the chairperson walked into the Township Building and fired the sitting Township Manager. She had a stellar reputation in Chester County, she was never written up or reprimanded in fact previous boards had given steady raises and bonuses to the Township Manager.
This all happened WITHOUT a vote by the sitting Board of Supervisors. This firing was illegal as was the replacement of the solicitor. The sitting BOS had installed a reputable honest solicitor and a supervisor elect and one member of the sitting board colluded to fire the Township Manager and solicitor for reasons still unclear.
AGAIN THERE WAS NO VOTE OF THE SITTING BOARD TO FIRE THE MANAGER OR THE SOLICITOR!
What I asked for. Given that the supervisor elect ( not sworn in) and the Chairman fired the Township Manager without the required 90 days notice. I asked the than finance director to pay the Township Manager the 90 days pay.
Yes I both phoned and texted the than Finance Director to give the money to the now former Township Manager. Since this needed a vote and the time was fading away I had to wait for the 2023 Board to be seated. The figure I asked for was 3 months pay, $41,250.
Because the time ticked away and now the board consisted of me and the chairperson there was no vote,
The former manager got a lawyer. And what we ended up giving her was.
Three months pay $41,250
Three weeks vacation time $10,312.50
Plus her medical benefits for three months including her HSA contribution
So instead of giving her the 3 months pay and being finished. West Whiteland had a no show employee for the first quarter of 2022. All due to two men throwing their weight around in an illegal firing of an employee.
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~Theresa Hogan SantaLUcia from her west whiteland supervisor page december 6, 2022
Let’s talk Trash:
In 2017 the then Board of Supervisors ran a survey to get an idea of where West Whiteland Residents stood on the Pay As You Throw (PAYT) program. The residents voted in a majority to continue with the PAYT program.
In the most recent local election in 2021, a new Supervisor was elected and he does not like the PAYT program. He wrote up a PowerPoint where he proposed getting rid of the PAYT program in favor of a more traditional program. One of the conditions of his program was a rebate program based on age. I would have qualified for that program. For the record I am against any rebates based on age, all rebate systems should be needs-based.
As a compromise, we distributed another survey to see where the residents of West Whiteland stood on staying with PAYT or going to a billing system and using any trash bag they want to use and putting out as much as they want for no extra charge.
The alternative for PAYT would start at $130 a year, the cost of one bag per week. Giving a break to those that put out 2 or more bags a week and costing more for those that put out 1-2 bags per month. Most smaller households either senior citizens or younger residents without children put out 1 or 2 bags per month costing between $30-$60 a year. The proposed non-PAYT system would have been an increase of $70-$100 a year.
In the 2022 Survey, we had 2032 residents on the PAYT system finish the survey. Of the 2032 responses, we had 1926 (94%) put out 1-3 bags. In the comments, some of the residents checked they use less than 1 bag a week but there wasn’t an option to say they use ½ to ¼ bag per week. The respondents voted 55% to 44% to stay with PAYT. That is an 11 point lead.
To be clear the newest supervisor wanted the survey and then claimed in the October 26, 2022 meeting that his son didn’t know about the survey. He also claimed the survey wasn’t the way to decide how to choose our trash collection system. Again, he was the one that wanted a new survey called the 2017 survey a joke.
~ Theresa Hogan SantaLUcia from her west whiteland supervisor page november 25, 2022
Umm yeah. OK Theresa. (dying laughing over here. Let’s talk trash or talk about your incessant trash talking, right? )Don’t you just love, love, love revisionist history in politics on a Sunday morning? Blessed be.
There actually isn’t too much to say about her posts other than, Theresa, professional therapy is cheaper. I mean it’s already been established that Ms. Gleason, the former township manager of West Whiteland had her contract simply NOT renewed. Perfectly legal, happens all of the time. Sometimes, municipalities will give managers the opportunity to resign in lieu of a non renewal but it is not a written in stone thing, is it? And if they are given the opportunity to resign in lieu of non-renewal and don’t? And no I do not know what happened behind closed doors, but there are only so many ways this can go, right? And not renewing a completed contract is perfectly normal and it happens. Everywhere. Not just in West Whiteland.
And then there is the whole issue of what Theresa did which was hardly Kosher before the 2022 reorg meeting at the end of 2021, right? The whole ordering township employees to just write checks to the departing manager because she said so? It didn’t seem to matter then that she was even told by the former finance director who had also been a supervisor that this was not legal and not done, right?
But here she goes again with her revisionist history and version of truth, right? I mean is it safe to have someone obviously unhinged and delusional in public office? I mean yikes!
And let’s review: no votes, as in NO votes took place BEFORE the reorg meeting in 2022. That is the truth, and the beginning and end of it. At that same 2022 reorg meeting she not only threw then brand new supervisor Brian Dunn under the bus for essentially not going along with her, she also tried to besmirch the reputation of the new solicitor. She so doesn’t get how municipalities work and what is legal and not legal that West Whiteland should get back all the money they have shelled out so she could attend PSATs conferences, right? And Mimi Gleason is now a manager or interim manager in Lower Gwynedd in Montgomery County, maybe no matter what you think of her, the woman wants to get on with her life?
On the agenda for the July 26th meeting of Lower Gwynedd Township’s Board of Supervisors are three items that involve a change in leadership of the township’s staff.
The first item is the consideration of a motion to accept the resignation of Township Manager Craig McAnally (pictured left) and to authorize the township’s solicitor to prepare a severance agreement. According to Linkedin, McAnally has severed as the township manager since April 2016 and was the assistant township manager for the 15 years prior.
Second is the consideration of a resolution to appoint Mimi Gleason (pictured right) to serve as the interim township manager and board secretary, treasurer, pension fund administrator, and assistant zoning officer. Gleason was most recently the township manager of West Whiteland Township, however, her contract was not renewed in a vote by the board of supervisors in January of 2022.
~Around Ambler
Of course I am amused to remember when Ms. Gleason retired from her job as township manager in Tredyffrin in 2012, declaring she had a life to live yadda yadda yadda and a “job is not a life” I have to wonder HOW she feels about Theresa right now…you know as she is trying to live her life now not after Tredyffrin, but West Whiteland? I mean you can almost feel for the woman because and old adage comes to mind — with friends like these, who needs enemies? Oy, Joey Adams, truer words were never spoken. Bossette Tweed, Saint Theresa of West Whiteland is such a liability politically and otherwise, right? If the Democrats were smart they would just formally censure her for behavior unbecoming of a public official and a Democrat.
So next let’s discuss Theresa’s Pyrrhic victory of 2022. Pyrrhic victory defined is:
Pyrrhic victory (plural Pyrrhic victories) A very costly victory, wherein the considerable losses outweigh the gain, so as to render the struggle not worth the cost.
Bossette Tweed carried on most of 2022. Her Pyrrhic victory of 2022 was the whole trash issue. Yawn. Supervisor Brian Dunn tried to offer alternatives to West Whiteland residents because at it’s simplest, SO MANY WEST WHITELAND RESIDENTS ASKED FOR AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE INEFFICIENT, RIDICULOUS TRASH BAG PLAN THAT SHE LOVES. That friends and readers, is called doing his job. She should try it sometime.
So next we go to how Bossette Tweed has her page set up for the public:
Oh yeah….that….Theresa Hogan Santalucia is an elected official. A politician. I guess she also doesn’t get that the plurality has rights. My blog has a Facebook page, and how many of us have our own personal Facebook pages? We can control our own pages because we are not politicians and elected officials. We can be as private or as public as we choose and can remove comments and block people if we so choose. Also we are all guests of social media platforms, so there is that aspect as well. Madam decided to be a politician and the rules for her are different. I will let the ACLU speak on the topic:
For generations, physical spaces – like public squares and town halls – have been critical forums for people to speak out on issues of public importance. But with the rise of social media, the avenues for members of the public to speak with their elected officials have expanded. Facebook comments and Twitter retweets are replacing the public meeting. In fact, the Supreme Court recently called these sites, “the modern public square,” where constituents can “petition their elected representatives and otherwise engage with them in a direct manner.”
If a public official uses their account to carry out their role as an elected official, then their page or account is subject to the First Amendment. That means they cannot engage in most forms of censorship such as blocking someone or deleting someone’s comments just because of their subject or opinion. It is also generally unacceptable for the official to ask the platform to delete comments for them.
How to determine if an official’s social media account is being used as an extension of their office:
The official identifies as a government official (e.g., includes their official title like @POTUS ) on the account.
The official posts announcements about their policies, responsibilities, or actions to communicate and interact with constituents and voters.
The official uses the account to seek or encourage comments about what legislation they should bring or support.
The official uses the account to call official meetings or declare orders within their authority.
The official encourages public discussion on their account or page.
The official allows users to ask for government services on their account.
The page lists or otherwise indicates the official’s title.
So don’t waste your breath telling her she is wrong to do this on her page other than to bring it up at a public meeting where in Public Comment you CAN challenge her on what she says and writes. That is your right as a resident of West Whiteland. I do not live in West Whiteland, so it is my right as a woman with a brain to say she is ridiculous and an embarrassment to the office she holds and to female politicians in general. She is no better than politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene. She is a risk to the Democrats in Chester County and they should start distancing themselves now. West Whiteland Democrats and the Democrat Party of Chester County should truly consider censuring her. They ALL know her behavior is unhinged and a censure (sometimes referred to as condemnation or denouncement) does not remove her from office. However, it is a formal statement of disapproval. And necessary.
The removal of this politicians should come this election cycle. Republicans and Democrats alike in West Whiteland should unite in removing her. If they get their collective acts together they can oust her in the upcoming primary and put a stop to this by lame ducking her. For the sake of this township, this actually has to happen. Primary her ass.
As a politician, this woman also makes a mockery of local government. She wants to rule like old school back in the day Delco, only this is Chester County, and she forgets? Doesn’t care? Is that stupid?
Look West Whiteland, I am being completely transparent when I say I find this elected official’s behavior horrible. In my opinion they also lack humanity and sense of decency and that right and wrong is entirely subjective by her actions. But other than express my opinions, it is up to all of you as residents. And whether she is running or not, people should go every public meeting and at public comment speak up and speak out about this craziness and ongoing reign of terror and ask for her resignation. Maybe she won’t do it, but it is your collective right to ask.
Government is NOT supposed to be about politicians who don’t know how to do their job and what doing their job well and fairly actually entails. This is an elected official who doesn’t seem to like anyone or anything so why is she in office? Is her version of change and good government constantly projecting ugliness? Why does everyone on God’s green earth have to be continually punished because she is unhappy?
I am not an elected official, and I have no desire to be. But there are plenty of local officials who do a really good job, and there are others out there who wish to. Life is too short for ugliness, West Whiteland. Voters need to primary her this spring. And if you all do and she next plays West Vincent politics by running as a fake Republican or Independent, vote her down in the fall. Get her gone. I can’t speak for her abilities as a nurse, but I can offer my opinions on her as a politician and elected official.
Thank you for allowing an intrusion on a Sunday. I am sure this politician’s brain will explode when she reads this post, and undoubtedly she will say I am secretly running West Whiteland or something else ridiculous like she is living rent free in my head. And if you see her at a Starbucks, make sure to snap her photo.
Trying to get a COVID19 shot is turning into a full time job. I am a Class 1A because I am still an active cancer patient on cancer meds. Yes, really. The closest I have been able to find a shot was the Wegmans pharmacy in Erie, Pennsylvania. 375 miles away.
I am registered everywhere. I waste lots of time on the pharmacy websites like Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Wegmans, and more. And I love when people tell me oh they have shots and you go on and you try to register but no they don’t have shots…. they’re out of stock. And if it doesn’t say out of stock on the vaccine finder website, you click into the location you’re looking at and it tells you then.
I spent five days on the phone trying to get through to the Chester County Hospital COVID19 scheduling line. Five days of my life I won’t get back. I finally got through this afternoon. I am a priority registration in the system but they don’t have anymore shots so they can’t schedule until they have shots, which is probably why I got through. But the man I spoke to (his name was Rick) was super helpful and just nice.
Pretty goddamn disappointed in them right now. Except part of me almost understands why they did it.
I don’t know what is with Chester County not having enough shots or the state of Pennsylvania not having enough shots.
Basically, I have to wait to be called. Because there aren’t even any shots at any of the drug stores or grocery store drug stores offering shots around here.
And like I said I have signed up everywhere I can. Which is why I got really annoyed when some Democratic Committeeman posted on NextDoor:
“Info to get Covid vaccinations. This is information from Pa House Representative Kristine Howard. Thank God she was elected! Hope this helps!“
I know I bet you’re all excited hearing something like that right? Well don’t be she’s not breaking any new ground here and Kristine Howard never does anything. All her office does is regurgitate information that’s already out there.
When I pointed this out to the Democratic committeeman he said to me (and I quote):
“Other than whining what have you done to provide information about COVID vaccines?“
The Democratic committeeman went on to mansplain to me about how he “had followed the rules” and spent 2 to 3 hours each day hunting a shot until he got an appointment.
First of all, I hate being mansplained to. Second of all, who is he to presume with anyone? Why is it my job in particular to provide information about COVID19 vaccines? I don’t understand that.
He wants to “thank God” for a State Rep who does nothing and who has done nothing since she was first elected. As an elected official, Kristine Howard should be trying to get more shots into Chester County, not just regurgitating information already provided by MANY others to look like she’s actually doing something. As a farmer I once knew said about someone years ago, she’s more useless than tits on a bull. Vulgar, but accurate.
And our new State Senator Carolyn Comitta? Where is she? She has been kind of invisible to constituents in my humble opinion.
Who has been helpful in Chester County, PA? The county commissioners. Josh Maxwell helped me personally get correctly registered on the county website. I kept registering and it literally didn’t take. He can’t personally get me a shot nor would I expect him to, but he took the time to help me and explain the process.
Honestly the process itself is faulty. Pennsylvania is backwards. We should be able to get shots. I have friends in other states who have had no problem signing up or finding shots.
And people like to criticize national healthcare as exists in the UK but guess what? Those people are getting their shots. They are rolling them out and people are getting their shots.
Every time you turn around in Pennsylvania it’s either the story out of Philadelphia where the 22 year old who started the non-profit who was giving COVID19 shots to their friends, or like today hospital systems kind of doing the same thing. The thing about the COVID19 shot is it’s not really merit based it seems like who do you know.
Well everyone loves a good game of who do you know this is a global pandemic and who was a clear conscience can do that to jump the line? I couldn’t personally but I understand on a certain level.
People are out there every day trying to play by the rules and banging their heads against walls trying to get a shot, and there are people who are gaming the system (who may or may not be eligible for a shot) who are just taking advantage of holes they find in the screwed up system to get their shots and is that right?
COVID19 has shown us since it started this time last year to eat up our lives about how some people don’t necessarily have a moral compass. And that includes elected officials.
There should be more system efficiency, shots should be more evenly distributed, and it should be just easier to actually get a shot. I have played by the rules since this started. I even went on voluntary stay at home before we went on mandated stay at home because of potential exposure to one of the first victims of COVID19 in Chester County and I still don’t know who that was. I just had the dumb luck of being at the same place at the same time.
So for the Democratic committeeman who serves where I live who wants to “thank God” for Kristine Howard in one breath, and in the other breath basically that I should be in essence what she is paid and elected to do, I will give Chester County Residents the direct line to the COVID19 shot scheduling line: (610) 883-5410.
I sign off on this Friday afternoon having very little faith in the system right now, as it exists. Thanks for stopping by.
I woke up thinking about Marsh Creek again this morning. I will preface this post with did you know the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline had been stopped in July?
By Erin Cox and Gregory S. Schneider July 5, 2020 at 7:07 p.m. EDT
The two energy companies behind the controversial 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline on Sunday abandoned their six-year bid to build it, saying the project has become too costly and the regulatory environment too uncertain to justify further investment.
The natural-gas pipeline would have tunneled under the Appalachian Trail on its way from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina…Property rights advocates in the Appalachians joined with an ashram in central Virginia and black Baptists from a rural county to make opposing the pipeline a high-profile political and social justice issue….Virginia-based Dominion Energy and North Carolina-based Duke Energy spent $3.4 billion on the project….But company officials said in a statement that other recent federal court rulings linked to the Keystone XL pipeline have heightened the litigation risk, extended the project’s timeline and further ballooned the cost of the project…
(Washington Post 7/5/2020)
So if the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline have been stopped, why not Mariner II?
I do not know how you could have missed the news this week. It started when Sunoco/Energy Transfer breached the aquifer and mud emerged from the ground while drilling on Saturday on Shoen Road. This is where my friend Ginny lives. I will let her words from five days ago be heard now:
It was a rough day y’all. Started before 6am with Sunoco violating our township noise ordinance. Then at 1:40pm I sent an email to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection staff in charge of Mariner East informing them that Sunoco’s plan to handle a frac-out of drilling mud on our property was failing and instead of Sunoco stopping drilling as required or the DEP forcing them to, they all did NOTHING. Two hours later there was a river of drilling mud flowing across our property. All this while an estimated 250,000 gallons of formerly pristine groundwater pour down the drill hole every 24 hours to be hauled away as residual waste….. enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool every two days. This is expected to continue for a few months.
The upside of all this: As I stood at the road, amongst a crowd of township police and glaring workers and security, and with the support of friends, people from our community driving by gave thumbs up and bold raised fists.
Community power. Defend what you love.
~ Ginny Kerslake 8/10/2020
And I watched live videos where it looked like my friend Ginny was being menaced on her own property? It has been crazy. My friend Ginny, however, is grace under pressure. And she pointed out on Tuesday:
As an estimated 250,000 gallons of ground water per day gushes down the borehole from the Mariner East HDD on Shoen Road in West Whiteland Township to be hauled away as waste, after Sunoco beached the aquifer yet again, let’s look at the situation in Edgemont, Delaware county where Mariner East drilling also destroyed private wells. But unlike in West Whiteland, THERE IS NO PUBLIC WATER OPTION.
Erica Tarr’s family has been without clean running water for several months. They have had to dig a new well and put in expensive filtration devices to no success and at great expense to them. Aqua PA has quoted them $500,000 to extend a new public water line to their home. Sunoco had done nothing for them. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has done nothing for them.
Where’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro? He has been investigating Mariner East for over a year now. Meanwhile this family is denied our constitutional right to clean water. So many families have been denied this right along this egregious project and in Western PA due to fracking, many without the resources to fight or fix, or without even knowing their water was contaminated. Where’s Governor Tom Wolf?
A reminder of Pennsylvania’s Green Amendment, proudly passed in 1971:
“The Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA), (Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution), states: The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.”
What’s there to be proud of Pennsylvania?
~ Ginny Kerslake 8/11/2020
Would you want to bathe in that water?
Ginny had this to say today:
As the DEP investigation into and cleanup of the drilling lubricant spill into Marsh Creek continues, so too do the investigations at Shoen Road where Sunoco has breached the aquifer and mud emerged from the ground while drilling on Saturday.
In a bold-faced life Sunoco claims they did not breach the aquifer, though they did it in 2017 and 2019 in their previous failed attempts and 250,000 gallons of water has been flowing back through the pilot hole and is being pumped 24/7 from drill pit.
And why isn’t the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection doing the appropriate analysis to determine an inadvertent return?
Time for the DEP to pull the permits
“This is an example of the crisis of our time. The people of Pennsylvania have a right to clean air and pure water, public health, safety and private property.
“Yet the priority seems to be protecting a multi-national, private, for-profit corporation, which then exploits and degrades our resources, our quality of life and our health and safety. Who does our government work for?”
~ Ginny Kerslake 8/14/2020
So what is Ginny talking about? Why the fouling of Marsh Creek by Sunoco/Energy Transfer this week. Lots of us, myself included have kept kids away from beautiful Marsh Creek since the polluting event this week.
Marsh Creek. A simply beautiful place loaded with wildlife. Where drinking water lives.
I first learned about Marsh Creek in my early 20s. I had a roommate back then who had grown up in the Downingtown area. Her mother worked for the EPA, so they were a family who completely respected the majesty of nature and were pro-environment back then.
Marsh Creek State Park was developed to help manage the water resources in the Brandywine Creek Watershed. Frequent flooding, water shortages, and lack of recreational opportunities were problems in the watershed.
The park was formerly a combination of rolling, wooded hills and small farms located on both sides of the Marsh Creek valley. The former village of Milford Mills is now under 30 to 50 feet of water. All of the buildings were removed; leaving only a few roads, foundations, and the embankments to the Larkin’s Bridge under the lake.
The lake was created by the damming of Marsh Creek. Construction of the dam occurred between May 1970 and June 1973. The impoundment is a 90-foot-high, 990-foot-long earth and rock fill dam on Marsh Creek, a tributary of the East Branch of Brandywine Creek.
On November 16, 1973, the gates of the dam were closed. The lake reached normal pool stage 218 days later on June 21, 1974.
At normal pool elevation of 359.5 feet above sea level, the impoundment covers an area of 535 acres plus a 25-acre wetland. The lake volume is 13,000 acre-feet (4.4 billion gallons) with a maximum depth of 80 feet at the dam.
The Marsh Creek watershed comprises 20 square miles of the Brandywine Creek watershed, which is part of the Delaware River Basin.
~ Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
My friend historian Catherine Quillman wrote a book about Milford Mills.
Way back in the first half of the 19th century, there was the tiny town of Milford Mills. A little village, really.
Little houses in the midst of sprawling farm country. A one room school house, a bridge, a general school.
Only in Your State says “Local legend also tells of a majestic mansion with 44 rooms. It was here, so goes the story, that supposed gangster Max Boo Boo Huff spent five years – from 1930 to 1935 – in the mansion, running a modern-day bar during Prohibition. Huff’s departure gave way to a new owner who turned the mansion into a resort.”
The village of Milford Mills existed until around 1970 when federal and local authorities decided a dam and a reservoir would be built there. The plans for Marsh Creek Dam meant the end of Milford Mills. I am told residents tried to fight it, but they lost and the village was razed. The dam was built and the man-made lake began to fill up with water. In 1974 or so the Marsh Creek Lake had a reported 100,000 fish added to it. The remnants of Milford Mills became the ghost town under the lake.
Marsh Creek was built to address water issues. It was built to provide drinking water for the Chester County Resources Authority. Apparently, previously there had been shortages. Also addressed by the creation of Marsh Creek? Alleviation of seasonal flooding. Of course I have to wonder given the intensity of infill development including around Marsh Creek if that still helps as much as they had thought it would. The park was also created and there are all sorts of things to do there. You can hike around and look at the ruins of Milford Mills, picnic, swim, sail, fish.
So when I first saw Marsh Creek it was I guess the late 1980s. I was in awe of how pretty it was plus fascinated by the mob stories and probable urban legend of wise guys ending up in the lake.
But now what lies ahead for Marsh Creek? How fouled is the water? Will we ever really know? What we do know is thanks to the brilliant activists.
Plume of pollution out at Marsh Creek thanks to Sunoco/ Energy Transfer Partners.
Drilling fluid used in Sunoco Pipeline LP’s Mariner East project in Chester County leaked into Marsh Creek Lake in a state park of the same name on Monday — one of three incidents in recent days along the pipeline construction project route.
Virginia Cain, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, said the agency is investigating the three incidents, which occurred at two project sites, in West Whiteland and Upper Uwchlan Townships.
The DEP said the first leak occurred on the 100 block of Shoen Road in West Whiteland on Saturday. Both the DEP and the Fish and Boat Commission responded and tested water to see if it contained drilling fluids. Drilling was stopped to await an analysis of the liquid.
~ Philadelphia Inquirer 8/11/2020
And this heinous fouling of Marsh Creek Lake is not the only pipeline problem this summer. More and more sinkholes keep cropping up:
Pennsylvania pipeline inspectors announced Friday that they are investigating a new series of sinkholes that have opened up along Sunoco Pipeline LP’s Mariner East project route in Chester County after cracks were reported in the pavement of Business Route 30 in Exton, impacting some traffic.
Public Utility Commission safety inspectors are investigating subsidence that has occurred since July 10 in places where the controversial pipeline is under construction. The incidents happened not far from the West Whiteland Township location where sinkholes formed over the last two years, forcing several construction halts and service disruptions on the operating pipelines.
~ Philadelphia Inquirer 7/17/2020
I just. Can’t. Even. What in the hell has to happen to be enough? Is this enough to get these people out of our communities? These pipelines are the things you hear about, but if you don’t live close enough to a pipeline site you think we are all a collective of drama queens.
I used to think that it was mostly drama before I moved to Chester County. I thought “oh it can’t possibly be that bad.” Then there are the moments that stick in your head. One such moment occurred for me a couple of years ago. We invited Adelphia Gateway which wishes to do Sunoco-like projects to a parlor meeting in my living room. My friend Ginny sat on my sofa with tears in her eyes as she recounted what had happened to her and her family at the hands of pipelines at that point.
This parlor meeting was July 25, 2018. I will note that questions we gave to the PR talking head sent to handle us have to date never, ever been answered. Adelphia Gateway will have my entire neighborhood within a blast zone if they proceed, and we are on wells. There is not public water for us so what has happened this week on Shoen Road and at Marsh Creek is EXACTLY what I worry about along with the sinkholes and well, the very real fear of any of these lines blowing up.
Anti-pipeline activists are still painted as these awful people. Ladies and gentleman, they are your neighbors. People you socialize with. Go to church with. Your friends. My friends.
For the recent primary election, the pipeline proponents, supporters, etc spent a crazy amount of money to try to still our voices by attacking candidates who speak for us. Ginny Kerslake did not prevail in the end in the primary against sheeple Kristine Howard, but my other friend Danielle Friel Otten did survive and crushed her opponent. If that pro-pipeline money had NOT been spent, I believe Kristine Howard would have gone down in flames. She still can if people are now smart and get behind a third friend, Wendy Graham Leland. I know it is only a matter of time before Camp Lameass Howard starts in on her. I wish them luck there, but I digress. I know some amazing women, but I digress again. (Sorry I do that sometimes.)
Lookee here however, remember that the politics intertwined in the pipeline issues are very important. It’s a ridiculous game of who is on first.
People, we need to be first.
Please call on our leaders to demand Governor Wolf Pull the Mariner East Permits PERMANENTLY:
The pipeline leak into Marsh Creek earlier this week was an avoidable water emergency. To make matters worse, Marsh Creek is a source of drinking water for people in that community. Sunoco/Energy Partners demonstrates by their actions that they have little regard for the impact their negligence has on the community.
The issue surrounding water in Chester County is at its tipping point and is nothing less than a PA Constitution crisis. It is possible to support progress and be good stewards of our natural resources at the same time. In fact, our PA Constitution demands it, Article I, Section 27 says: “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”….AQUA is also engaging in a hostile takeover effort of our local water authority, Chester Water Authority (CWA). You may have seen the many, many SAVE CWA and Save Octoraro Reservoir yard signs in yards and on highways. AQUA wants to buy CWA. AQUA wants CWA because it stands to make billions on the deal, pulling vast amounts of money out of our fragile local economy. It also wants valuable public natural resources including the Octoraro Reservoir and 2000 acres of CWA land assets…..Will our water be sent to Northern Chester County for fracking?
~ Richard Ruggieri candidate for State Representative for District 13, learn more about him and his campaign at RuggieriPA13.com. 8/13/2020
Sunoco/Energy Transfer, the company behind the problematic and controversial Mariner East pipeline project, is in business with Aqua America, which provides water service to thousands of residents in Chester County, state Sen. Andy Dinniman revealed Friday.
“It is important that citizens know the relationship between companies involved with the Mariner East pipeline,” Dinniman said.
According to Energy Transfer’s 2018 annual report, the company owns a 51 percent stake in Aqua – ETC Water solutions, characterized as a “joint venture that transports and supplies fresh water to natural gas producers drilling in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.”
~ Daily Local News 6/28/2019
Talk about an unholy alliance, right? So Sunoco/Energy Transfer fouls the water. AQUA PA is public water and they are trying to take over the Chester Water Authority ? So that also guilt by association (or investment) means they are fouling Marsh Creek and so on but then they would have control over our water if AQUA PA takes over CWA?
Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ. (Yes I am an Outlander fan.) But seriously? You can’t make this stuff up! We are living it! And to what end? The destruction of where we call home and our water resources for freaking corporate profits?
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has responded to several reports of fluid discharges at construction sites for the Mariner East pipeline system in Chester County, including a confirmed spill at a state park.
Operation at the drill site has been suspended indefinitely.
Harrisburg, PA — The Departments of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and Environmental Protection (DEP) assured Marsh Creek State Park supporters that concerted efforts are underway to safeguard visitors and park resources in the wake of Monday’s pipeline drilling fluid spill affecting the lake; and that Energy Transfer will be held accountable to the full extent of the law.
“We are deeply concerned and troubled over this significant resource and recreation impact at Marsh Creek that comes at a time when that park, as are all our parks, is seeing incredible visitation rates amid the pandemic,” said DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. “Drawing more than 1 million visitors a year, Marsh Creek is among our most visited park, and water-based activities are the catalyst for that draw.
“The popularity of paddle-boarding alone is phenomenal at Marsh Creek Lake, and anglers and other boaters can be found daily on the lake. Containment, water testing, and remediation are underway, and access to affected water and shoreline will be restricted.”
Noting the park’s connecting trails and other strong ties to surrounding communities, Dunn said, “DCNR recognizes this park is beloved by those who live nearby and is an important resource to the people and businesses of surrounding communities. I feel it is important to let them know we’re standing by them on this.”
What Happened
On Monday, August 10, DEP responded to a report from Sunoco of a potential inadvertent return at HDD 290, a drill site off Green Valley Road in Marsh Creek State Park in Upper Uwchlan Township, Chester County. Operation at the drill site has been suspended indefinitely.
Used in Sunoco Pipeline LP’s Mariner East project in Chester County, an estimated 8,100 gallons of drilling fluid (mud and water) leaked into wetlands off park property and into a tributary to Marsh Creek Lake. The spill is affecting the lake’s cove area along Park Road.
What’s The Status
Buoys will be used on the lake to delineate the affected area.
Approximately 33 acres of the 535-acre lake is now off-limits to boating and fishing.
Offering a swimming pool, the park does not permit beach-based swimming. Boating and fishing still is permitted on the rest of the lake, and the park remains open to all other activities.
“With the assistance of DEP, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, private contractors, and our park personnel, we are focusing on containment, cleanup, and remediation, and we need the public’s cooperation,” Dunn said. “Aiding that effort are DCNR park managers and rangers, as well as our aquatic specialists who will be gauging the spill’s effect on water quality and lake aquatic life.”
What’s Being Done
DEP, along with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), continue to investigate and oversee the cleanup of the inadvertent return into Marsh Creek, said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.
At the conclusion of the investigation, DEP anticipates that there will be civil penalties and potentially other regulatory ramifications.
Drilling activity at the site has ceased until further notice.
“Since the spill occurred on Monday, clean-up crews have made significant progress in collecting and containing spilled material. DEP aquatic biologists have been onsite since the beginning of the incident to assess the spill and ensure that cleanup activities are conducted properly. Downstream drinking water intakes have been notified and there are no concerns about drinking water safety. There have not been any complaints of impacted private water wells,” McDonnell said. “DEP is also actively coordinating with experts at DCNR, Department of Health, Army Corps of Engineers, and Public Utility Commission to ensure that the ongoing situation is managed consistently and safely. DEP has consistently held Sunoco accountable for violations and will do so in this instance as well.”
Located in northcentral Chester County, Marsh Creek’s lake and 1,784 acres offer a refuge for migrating waterfowl and also are popular with hikers, hunters, and picnickers.
More information about Marsh Creek and Pennsylvania’s other 120 state parks is available on the DCNR website.
MEDIA CONTACT: Terry Brady, DCNR, 717-877-6315; Virginia Cain, DEP, 484-868-2452
WEST WHITELAND — Sunoco/Energy Transfer workers hit and breached an underground aquifer at Shoen Road which since then has fouled 250,000 gallons per day of fresh drinking water, according to State Sen. Danielle Friel Otten, D-155th, of Uwchlan, and Shoen Road resident Ginny Kerslake.
The two women estimate that 50 trucks, with a capacity of 5,000 gallons each, have daily been removing water from the drill site of the Sunoco Mariner East pipeline.
Sunoco/ET spokesperson Lisa Coleman responded with a one-sentence comment.
“We did not impact the aquifer at Shoen Road,” wrote Coleman on Aug. 11.
UPPER UWCHLAN—On Friday morning, local public officials and legislators paddled to the site of Monday’s Marsh Creek Sunoco pipeline construction spill of about 10,000 gallons of drilling mud to monitor the mitigation process.
State Rep Danielle Friel Otten, D-155th, of Uwchaln and state Sen. Katie Muth, D-44th, of Royersford invited the dignitaries to view the damage and cleanup firsthand. They visited the popular state park lake via paddleboards, kayaks and canoes.
State Rep. Melissa Shusterman, D-157th, of Schuylkill said that the 10,000 gallon spill is alarming.
“I’m here to make sure our public parks are clean and the air around them is clean so people can enjoy,” she said. “Public parks are for all of us to enjoy.”
State Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166th of Haverford, discussed meeting climate change goals.
“We can’t continue to build fossil fuel infrastructure and reach our goals,” he said.
“Marsh Creek is a valuable ecological and recreation area and I was very concerned when I learned of the spill.
“I wanted to see firsthand the extent of the damage and the progress of cleanup efforts. I was pleased to see both cleanup workers and representatives of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on the scene….In addition to Friel Otten, Muth, Vitali, Shusterman and D’Amico, state Rep. Dan Williams, D-74th, of Coatesville came out, as well as Chairman Bill Miller from Uwchlan Township and Rebecca Britton, Vice President of Downingtown Area School Board.
~ Bill Retter, Daily Local News 8/14/2020
So…who was NOT there at Marsh Creek today?HOW ABOUT STATE REPRESENTATIVE KRISTINE HOWARD? KRISTINE, IF IT ISN’T A PHOTO OP WITH GOVERNOR TOM WOLF AND CAROLYN COMITTA YOU CAN’T BE BOTHERED?
While we are on the topic of who has and has not been to Marsh Creek can we mention that Governor Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro should have been there over the past few days?
Enough is enough #WaterIsLife #DefendWhatYouLove
I do not know about you but I am over this pipeline bullsheit. Over it. Ever new adventure in the land of pipeline drama is worse than the last. These pipeline companies are destroying where we live and don’t try to spin the crap that they employ locally unless Oklahoma and all the other states that make up the out of state license plates are suddenly IN Chester County?
We put our lives and sweat equity into where we call home. So why is it government is just allowing it all to be destroyed? Systemic corruption? Greed? What?
I don’t know where to go in my head. I grew up around oil companies. My father did PR for one for years. Years. But all the pipelines I ever knew about then were petroleum. Like the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which started operating in 1977. Of course in that same vein, I remember the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in 1989. And I remember how the guy driving the tanker (while drinking) got off without felony charges.
As my friends from Just The Facts Please said regarding this latest jackassery word puzzle from Energy Transfer:
These [idiots] just can’t help themselves with their lies and stupidly worded statements. Marsh Creek IS an important drinking water source for this region. But I guess Kelcy Warren wouldn’t know that from his tower in Texas.
ETP states, “As a clarification to some public statements that have been made, no public drinking water has been impacted.”
So where in the Sam Hell do we go from here? I don’t know about you but I want these pipeline operators GONE. As in FOR GOOD. #SafetyOverSunoco #SoOverSuNOco
I know this is a ridiculously long post and I have meandered like a stream. But this Marsh Creek thing makes my head spin. This has to stop. Our elected officials need to man and woman up and kick the pipelines the hell out of Pennsylvania, starting with where we call home, Chester County, PA.
Keep the faith Mama Bears. #DefendWhatYouLove
Source: Facebook West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety
Something occurred to me the other day. And I am not a psychologist or expert in the field of how negativity affects people, especially where they live, so these are merely my opinions and observations.
We live in an area that was bucolic and peaceful. Agricultural and equine heritage and traditions. It is now being overrun by development. Every time you turn around, another community is threatened. That is stressful if you are directly affected/impacted, and it can raise your blood pressure just driving by a place where you used to see cows, or horses swishing their tails while they grazed to seeing how it is now just a big pit of scraped earth or budding Tyvec-wrapped communities where everyone is or will be jammed in like lemmings.
And then there are all of the pipeline sites. They are ugly and raw and NOISY. People’s property values are declining, their wells being poisoned by whatever the heck it all is they drill with (there are enough articles in local papers etc about this, right?) And we can’t forget the sinkholes. When I was first coming out to Chester County before I moved here, I used to love when I turned on 352 off of West Chester Pike if I came that way. All of a sudden it was just green with rolling stretches of lawn and trees. Now it is a raped landscape that actually stresses me out just driving by it, so I can’t even imagine how directly affected residents feel.
Or other area stressers like contested sites within municipalities where state agencies like PennDOT are concerned. Take the site of Route 352 (A/K/A N. Chester R or Sproul Rd) and King Road in Malvern. This directly affects residents in East Whiteland and East Goshen.
And here we are at year end and no one knows what is happening for sure at that intersection, and that includes the directly affected residents. Will they face any eminent domain? Will they face a complete loss of certain properties through eminent domain? It’s a big mystery. And I watch email after email by affected residents go by to municipal officials and PennDOT. PennDOT never replies. It is like they are ignoringthe residents utterly and completely, which adds to the feelings of stress, dismay and uncertainty.
Is it just me or have any of you noticed how people aren’t putting up their usual Christmas displays in some of these areas targeted by pipelines, development, construction, and PennDOT? This is what I have noticed, and it bums me out to see houses usually bright and cheery at the holidays look dark and sad. But in all fairness, if you were facing any of these things, how cheerful and full of Christmas spirit would you feel?
Life can be hard, that is the reality of life. But for a lot of these people, it shouldn’t be so hard. These folks moved here and bought their homes to raise their families. Their piece of the American Dream. You live right, pay your taxes, are part of your community. And your home is indeed your castle, and for a lot of these people there are quite literally barbarians at the gate.
Elected officials NEED to think about how these scenarios are affecting their constituents. All they have to do is drive by and notice how the longer these negative issues persist, how they affect people. Real people. People who in a lot of cases voted for them. It shows in the little things like gardening and holiday decorations. I think it is criminal to drive by homes where you know the owners were once so house proud and see these changes.
Just some of life’s little observations. Wishing these people peace.
Every time you turn around in Pennsylvania it’s either the story out of Philadelphia where the 22 year old who started the non-profit who was giving COVID19 shots to their friends, or like today hospital systems kind of doing the same thing. The thing about the COVID19 shot is it’s not really merit based it seems like who do you know.
